BOXING

BOXING; Wright, the Underdog, Defeats Mosley

By MICHAEL KATZ

Published: March 14, 2004

LAS VEGAS, March 13—
Winky Wright, who had previously fought his way through Luxemburg, South Africa, England and Argentina, reached the pinnacle of his often-sordid profession Saturday night by turning the jab into a brush and painting a masterpiece against Shane Mosley.

The two turned the game of punching opponents into performance art, but at the end Wright had a unanimous decision to add the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association junior middleweight titles to his International Boxing Federation crown.

It amounted to so much more than unifying the 154-pound title. It was about two of boxing's best meeting in one of the best contests of the decade.

Judges Chuck Giampa and Dave Moretti scored it 117-111 for Wright, now 47-3 with 25 knockouts. The other Las Vegas judge, Paul Smith, also had it for Wright, 116-112.

Mosley, coming off his second victory against Oscar De La Hoya, lost a huge gamble, not on the tables, but in the negotiating rooms. He had turned down perhaps $10 million to $12 million to give De La Hoya a third bout, annoyed that he was not getting parity. He also had a $10 million payday waiting for him against the returning Felix Trinidad Jr.

Mosley (39-3) said he felt dehydrated and weak, ''like I had a monkey on my back.'' Wright's jabs, setting up a debilitating body attack, had much to do with that. Wright was making maybe $750,000, but as he said before the bout, ''After I win, I'm captain of the ship.''

It was a fight fit for a time capsule. And it will be repeated because there was a rematch clause, and Wright said he would give Mosley another shot. ''It was a great fight,'' he said, though he added that he would like to face De La Hoya, Trinidad and Bernard Hopkins, then retire.

Mosley started quickly, behind his superior hand speed, but Wright soon found the range with the jab, thrown by his strong hand -- the right -- and dominated thereafter.

There were no knockdowns and much tapping of gloves as the fighters showed great respect for each other.

Earlier, in a wild HBO semifinal, Joe Mesi survived three knockdowns in the last two rounds to take a faltering step to a major heavyweight fight this summer by winning a 10-round unanimous decision over a former cruiserweight champion, Vassiliy Jirov.

Mesi, now 29-0, was holding on at the end after tiring badly in the final two rounds.

In the ninth round, the southpaw Jirov, a puffy 212 pounds, landed a left hand followed by a right to the back of the head to drop Mesi, who had won the second through eighth rounds on all official cards. Mesi got through the final seconds of the ninth, but in the finale, Jirov had him down twice. All three Nevada judges gave Mesi the decision, 94-93.

Mesi, who was beating Jirov worse than even James Toney did last year, was hoping to set up a major fight outdoors before his Buffalo home fans this summer. Mike Tyson was one possibility, though Mesi's promoter, Tony Holden, was nervous about committing to Tyson. A more likely opponent would be Vitaly Klitschko, especially if Klitschko wins the vacant World Boxing Council title against Corrie Sanders.

PUNCH LINES

Earlier at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, the promoter DON KING announced the May 15 rematch here between ROY JONES JR., who will defend the W.B.C. light-heavyweight title he won from ANTONIO TARVER in a rematch of their Nov. 8 bout. Jones won that fight in a majority decision. Jones was not present for either the news conference or to watch WINKY WRIGHT, whom he promotes, in his biggest bout. BRAD JACOBS of Square Ring, Jones's promotional company, said Jones was shooting a music video. Jones-Tarver II will be an HBO pay-per-view event.

Photo: Winky Wright, on his way to the 154-pound championship last night, ducked a punch from Shane Mosley. (Photo by Associated Press)